Media clips

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• Report: Long-term education investments lead to higher wages

  In the Washington Post’s GovBeat blog, Reid Wilson reported on the latest findings from EARN. The report recommends that state legislators focus their attention on improving education, rather than cutting taxes to lure investment away from other states.

  The Washington Post August 23, 2013
• For Obama, 50 years after historic march, economic equality the path to racial justice

  Washington Post reporter Zachary Goldfarb looked at the challenges facing African Americans as President Obama prepares to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Citing EPI, Goldfarb wrote, “Fifty years ago, the unemployment rate was 5 percent for whites and 10.9 percent for blacks, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Today, it is 6.6 percent for whites and 12.6 percent for blacks.”

  The Washington Post August 23, 2013
• A Study Finds Stagnated, Declining Wages For Low Wage Earners

  EPI President Lawrence Mishel was interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered” about his new report, A Decade of Flat Wages. Explaining that wages have been flat across all measures, including education level, Mishel said, “Wages for those in business occupations have been flat for 10 years. Those in science, technology, engineering, and math—so-called STEM occupations—have been flat. It’s hard to look at the data and find that the real problem of wage growth is that people don’t have enough education.”

  NPR August 23, 2013
• Economists split on whether tax hikes have hurt recovery

  Analysts are split over whether the tax increases passed in January have hurt the economy as Congress barrels toward another round of fiscal fights this fall. ….

  Thomas Hungerford, a director of budget and tax policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said the increases in income taxes have had “no impact” on the economy.

  “I think any arguments that raising taxes at the top has probably lost some of its relevance,” said Thomas Hungerford, director of budget and tax policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  The Hill August 15, 2013
• For many women, it’s a low-wage recovery

  Using that data and the numbers from the bureau’s report on job openings this past week, Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., showed there are 3.1 unemployed workers for every job opening.

  Pittsburgh Post Gazette August 15, 2013
• Lean In Hypocrisy: Sheryl Sandberg’s Organization Is Hiring an Unpaid Intern

  This is well-trodden territory. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that unpaid internships save U.S. companies $600 million dollars a year while locking less privileged young people out of the job market:

  Unpaid internships, in particular, exclude students from poorer families who can’t afford to work for nothing for a summer or a semester, especially after they graduate from college with tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt. The children of affluent families, on the other hand, can afford to live in the most expensive cities in the U.S., such as New York and Washington, making contacts, building their resumes, and sometimes even learning skills, while their parents pay for their room and board, travel and entertainment.

  Slate August 15, 2013
• Why is the U.S.’s 1 percent so much richer than everywhere else?

  In the first corner, we have Larry Mishel and Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute, which put out a shorter paper along similar lines in June. They argue that unique features of corporate governance in the U.S. have contributed to pay for CEOs that’s significantly above their foreign counterparts, and hold up the financial sector as an area where managers have commanded outlandish salaries out of step even with returns to their shareholders.

  The Washington Post August 15, 2013
• Wage gap between CEOs, workers shows costly disregard

  The most compelling argument for raising the minimum wage is a humane one, but it’s also in the best interests of the economy, which is 70 percent consumer driven. A family barely scraping by after working two full-time jobs isn’t going to be doing a lot of pleasure shopping. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the proposed minimum-wage increase would generate more than $32 billion in new economic activity, leading to the creation of 140,000 full-time jobs.

   

  The Associated Press August 15, 2013
• Happy 78th birthday, Social Security, and many more

  The Economic Policy Institute has more on the necessity of Social Security for the vast majority of Americans. Only the wealthy, EPI has found, can count on having enough income from private retirement accounts for financial security in old age.

  In 2010, households whose income was in the middle fifth percentile of incomes had, on average, only $34,981 in individual retirement savings, while households in the top fifth of incomes averaged $308,674. Other than high-income households, who receive most of the federal subsidies for IRAs and 401(k)s, virtually no one has enough savings to generate substantial retirement income. Social Security wealth and retirement income, on the other hand, are broadly shared.

  Daily Kos August 15, 2013
• 401(k) savers are confused and stressed

  Also, 74% said their retirement account has recovered from the financial crisis “about as fast” or “even faster” than expected.

  And 55% of the savers in the Schwab survey said they hiked their savings rate in the past two years, while 70% said their 401(k) “is in better shape now than ever before.”

  That’s a welcome trend, because many retirement savers are falling behind, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.

  The report, titled “Social Security is the Only Reason Most Americans Can Afford to Retire,” said that U.S. households in the middle-fifth percentile of income had $34,981 on average in retirement savings, in 2010.

  That’s in stark contrast to the average $308,674 saved by households in the top fifth of incomes. Read more on the EPI website.

  Want the bad news spelled out? Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, in Washington, said: “Other than high-income households, who receive most of the federal subsidies for IRAs and 401(k)s, virtually no one has enough savings to generate substantial retirement income.”

  Wall Street Journal August 15, 2013